Why Should Delaware Care?
With significant route adjustments and route discontinuations being made, these changes could impact daily commutes, access to essential services and overall convenience for many Delaware residents. Changes not only impact riders, but could impact transportation access for workers around the state as well.
Delaware’s public transit agency DART will hold three public meetings this week to gather comments about planned changes to its service, including the end of six largely suburban bus routes.
Last month, DART released a summary of the proposed changes, which transit officials say will improve on-time performance, connections and service reliability.
According to DART, this proposal is part of the three phase plan that they initiated, beginning with their May service change in which they added service to places like Christiana Hospital on route 5 and the Hope Center on route 15.
“The current service change proposal is a continuation of Phase I and it is where we are focusing on the discontinuation of unproductive routes and/or route segments. As we adjust the make-up of our fleet to include smaller vehicles we will begin to implement Phases II & III of the plan, including more microtransit zones,” wrote Albert Loyola, the deputy customer experience officer for DART.
The changes include the proposed removal of Routes 37, 42, 44, 52 and 62 in New Castle County, and Route 120 in Kent County. DART is cutting the routes because they don’t have enough riders, according to transit officials.
The routes being cut connect various communities, including Glasgow with Newark, Delaware City with Christiana, Wilmington with Centreville, and Wilmington with the Amazon distribution center in Middletown.
Public comment on the proposed changes must be submitted by Aug. 16. Comments can be made during the public meetings, or by email, mail, phone or online.
When approved, the proposed changes will take effect on Nov. 17.
The first public hearing workshop will be held at the Dover Public Library at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. The second workshop will take place at the Georgetown Public Library at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday. And the last workshop will be held in Wilmington on Thursday, starting at 11 a.m.
More details regarding the public hearings can be found on DART’s site.
Here are the key proposed changes:
New Castle County
Route 10 will be rerouted to serve Basin Road and South Dupont Highway.
Most Route 13 trips will no longer deviate into Bellefonte.
Route 25 will cut its service to New Castle County Logistic Center and will add a Saturday afternoon trip from Wilmington to the Tybouts Corner Amazon facility.
And Route 20 will be reduced to two round trips during morning and evening rush hours.
Kent County
Route 120’s resources and stops will merge with Route 302, which will also begin new Saturday service.
Weekday service for Route 101 will be discontinued after 6 p.m. Saturday service would stop serving Dover High School and instead end at the Greentree Shopping Center.
Weekday service after 6 p.m. and all Saturday service will be cut for Route 105.
In addition, intercounty routes like Route 301 will see fewer trips to Boyds Corner, while Route 302 will be rerouted through Middletown to serve Broad Street.
Sussex County
Route 212 will no longer provide on-site service to Georgetown Professional Park and Route 215 will no longer provide service after 9:30 p.m.
Voice Your Opinion
DART will hold three public hearings, one in each county, so that residents can comment and provide feedback on the proposed bus service changes. The first hearing will be at the Dover Public Library on Aug. 6 at 4:30 p.m. Comments can also be submitted by email, mail, phone or online before Aug. 16.
For more information on the proposal and public hearings, click here.
